The Greggs Foundation is expanding its Breakfast Club programme beyond breakfast, to include after-school and holiday enrichment activities.

Building on the 25-year legacy of the Foundation’s Breakfast Club scheme, which currently serves over 75,000 children daily across more than 1,000 schools, the retailer will be introducing a new initiative, Feeding Brighter Futures.

The evolved scheme has the same underlying mission as the Breakfast Club programme – to improve educational equality – but will expand support to other activities, aside from just breakfast.

It follows the UK government’s new commitment to fund breakfast provision in schools, with trials having begun in April 2025 and a wider rollout expected by 2027.

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The Greggs Foundation said the policy shift prompted it to consult with its partner schools on how best to redistribute its support. Schools voiced the need for more after-school and holiday club support areas, where many children currently miss out due to financial constraints or limited resources.

Feeding Brighter Futures will continue to support existing breakfast clubs during the government transition period. Simultaneously, the charity will pilot after school and holiday club funding with select schools through 2025.

All 1,000 schools in the current network will continue to have access to The Greggs Foundation’s hardship fund, offering grants for essential items such as clothing, grocery vouchers, beds, and household appliances to help families in crisis.

Greggs chief financial officer Richard Hutton said: “This amazing programme, that’s grown to feed over 75,000 children every single day, started with a very simple objective – that no child should start the school day hungry.

“We’re proud that the Breakfast Clubs we support are places where children can build relationships, develop social skills, and gain the energy and focus that they need for their studies. For many, it’s the highlight of their day. We’ve shown that that Breakfast Clubs are about more than just breakfast; they’re about knocking down some of the barriers to a better future.”